This has been a hard season to watch for Flyers fans, especially after last season kind of gave us hope. It seemed that the bad times were coming to an end sooner than expected after the Flyers almost made the playoffs. The arrival of Matvei Michkov boded well. Maybe they would kick (some) butt and take (some) names.
After an opening night victory, the Flyers dropped six games straight and it has been hard ever since to bounce back. The team has not won more than three games in a row but has lost four or more three times. The power play is abysmal at 15.8% and is better than just four teams. Likewise, the team is tied for fourth worst (with Chicago) for most goals given up with 189 (they had 258 all of last season). Ugh.
Despite this, there are a few nuggets of sunshine that can be found in this year that we can find some joy in. On this Valentine's Day weekend, let’s look at some of the things we love about this team.
The Rise of Konecny
Man, every year he is getting better. We are almost 3/4 of the way through the season and he already has set a career high in assists with 39. His 61 total points are second to last year's career high of 68. He has 22 goals on the season and should break 30 for the third straight season. There is a chance he still has time to reach 40 goals and 90 points on the season.
He's been a lot of fun to watch these last few years. The Flyers are lucky to have him for a while now. As long as he is on the ice, the Flyers have a chance to score.
Risto's a D-Man
When Ristolainen was drafted, and then traded to Philly, everyone thought ‘here comes a big defender who can score.’ Those were the expectations and he fell WAYYYYYYYYY short of that. Instead, he has learned, thanks to John Tortorella and Brad Shaw, how to be a reliable defensive defender.
He leads all defenders with a +3 rating, which is also good for third on the team. He is third on the team in blocked shots and leads all defenders in hits. Is he perfect? No. Has he improved his defensive game? Yes. So, whether he stays here or is flipped for something big, he will continue to help this team out.
Ersson Looks Legit
Yes, Ersson has battled injuries and has struggled at times; although some of that has been because of a banged up and inconsistent defense in front of him. However his numbers aren't bad. His GAA is slightly better this year (2.81) than last year (2.82). He has also played in 31 of the Flyers' 57 games. That is a heavy workload.
The team can't keep overworking him as they did last year or he will burnout again. It would be nice if Ivan Fedotov or Aleksei Kolosov were doing anything positive in net. In the long term, Ersson could be the guy. We'll have to see. I think we can all agree that he is not the problem.
Couturier is Back
Ok, he'll never be what he once was, but Sean Couturier is showing signs that the rust from taking 18 months of hockey off are wearing away. He has won 56.3% of his faceoffs, good for 17th best in the NHL. His eight goals are just three away from last season's total. He is also 12 points shy of tying Flyers' legend Simon Gagne for 12th most points with 535.
An older, slower Couturier is still better than many centers in this league. It's one of the reasons why the Hurricanes still hang onto Jordan Staal. The body might not be there anymore, but the hockey IQ is through the roof. With a young team like Philly has, the Flyers still need him.
Laughton is Playing Strong
While Scott Laughton never became a scoring stud, he has become a very reliable player in this organization. He's a leader in the locker room and someone the younger players, like Bobby Brink, can look up to.
This season, he has 11 goals with 15 assists. Respectively, his career high in both is 18 and 26. Both could be topped this year with a strong finish and it would be excited to see him reach the 20 goal plateau. More importantly, his leadership offers a steadying hand to those still trying to find their place on the team and gives Tortorella one last thing to worry about.
Hence why the team has hung onto his through multiple seasons of trade rumors.